Page 34

“Okay,” I tell him, squaring up to the beast. Looking into its eyes, I open my mind. A flash of darkness pummels the back of my brain. I see a series of images. None of them makes any sense. I feel pain, and then I hear it. Sam. Brother. Sam. Saved Sam. Saved brother. Brother lived. Nico died. Brother left. Nico stayed. Brother lived. Nico died.

The words circle round and round in my head. I grip my temples and fall back onto my heels. Then I reach for the banister and pull myself to my feet. I meet Sam’s eyes. He searches my face, his features practically pleading with me for an answer.

“You’re right,” I whisper. “It’s Nico. He’s in there.”

21

KOLE

I wake groggy. Luther is snoring in the bed next to me, his big sockless feet up near my head.

Fuck knows why he thinks we need to top and tail when we’ve seen each other naked more times than I can count, and done plenty more than sleep.

He’s drunk. He only ever snores when he’s consumed enough alcohol to knock him out cold.

For a moment, I’m so distracted by the fact he’s drooling onto the quilt that I forget why we’re both here in Rev’s bedroom instead of back at the cabin, or at the mansion, with Nova.

As her name drops like acid into my head, I groan and sit up. I agreed to Rev’s potion. I needed it. I needed not to have to fight The Hunger as well as everything else that’s churning inside me.

I don’t know if my grief is what’s magnifying it or if it’s the evil, congealed air around us, or the fact that the sky is laced with Nova’s blood.

Whatever is doing it, The Hunger is stronger than it has ever been. Stronger than when I was at the height of my addiction. Stronger than my darkest days in England. The only thing stopping me from losing myself completely is that there are no humans—or dealers—nearby.

I lean onto my knees and breathe heavily. When I stand up and catch my dark reflection in the mirror opposite the bed, I stop and peer at it.

The veins are back. They haven’t faded. In fact, they might have grown darker. I pull my hair back and fasten it at the back of my neck, then pull one of Rev’s spare guy-sized hoodies over my black tee.

When I emerge in the living room, Sarah is the only one here. I blink into the dim light. She turns and shakes her head. She’s holding her wand.

“What’s going on?” I ask, clocking the discarded mugs of coffee on the table.

“Sam came back. He said he’d found Mack and that he needed Tanner and Rev to help him.” She glances at the clock. “That was a few minutes ago. I heard them in the stairwell, but they haven’t come back yet.”

“I’ll find them.” I stride toward the door but, before I reach it, I hear voices.

The door swings open, and Mack strides in. Butt-naked and filthy as fuck.

His beard and hair are longer than I’ve ever seen them. His skin is carrying a thick layer of dirt. “Professor?” I pull him in for a hug and slap his bare back. “Where the hell have you been, Rhone?”

Hearing his name on my lips, Mack blinks up at me. “We’ll discuss it later,” he says, pulling out of my embrace. “Right now, we have a bigger problem.”

He steps aside to reveal Sam and Tanner. They’re backing into the apartment, waving their arms like they’re trying to beckon a frightened cat inside with them.

I step around Mack, and almost fall into the wall when I realize it’s not a cat they’re trying to coax inside.

I open my mouth to yell but Mack grabs my arm and squeezes it tight. “It’s Nico,” he says without meeting my eyes “Sam and Tanner believe it’s Nico.”

Finally, the beast is inside.

Rev follows, skirting toward me, pressed to the wall.

At the table, Sarah slowly stands up and backs away. When she and Rev are standing either side of me, Tanner closes the door.

The huge, salivating, ugly beast stands in Rev’s kitchen quivering. It’s looking at us like we’re the vets on a fucking animal hospital TV show.

Tanner gestures to its foot. “He’s hurt.”

“I’ll fetch some warm water and bandages,” Rev murmurs.